PAGS Expansion Unit 6 – Phase II

Pueblo Airport Generating Station (PAGS), Pueblo, Colo.

Project Tags

Project Scope

Awarding the project to install new gas turbine technology at its Pueblo Airport Generating Station (PAGS), Black Hills Energy chose Graycor Industrial to perform the second-phased expansion to the existing PAGS plant located near the Pueblo Memorial Airport, just east of Pueblo. The project called for Graycor’s team to install a new General Electric LM6000-PF, natural gas-fired combustion turbine generator and associated auxiliaries on Unit 6. The new 40-megawatt turbine—state-of-the-art in efficiency and emissions reduction—joins the plant’s existing gas-and-steam turbine infrastructure now totaling 420 megawatts in generation capacity.

The plant’s new generation replaces the generating capacity previously provided by a coal-fired plant Black Hills retired in 2013 to comply with state regulations. The PAGS simple-cycle facility provides additional energy and ensures reliability during times of high-energy consumption. The plant also serves to regulate the area’s wind turbines that provide intermittent power.

Graycor self-performed installation of the mechanical equipment, structural steel erection, foundations, underground and balance-of-plant piping systems. The team also assisted in the project’s startup and commissioning.

Subcontracted work included earthwork and underground utility trenching, gates and security fencing, insulation and lagging of piping and equipment, and installation of electrical equipment and owner-furnished instrumentation and controls.